Technically good, but to be blunt, this felt incomplete and more like a trailer than a short. In my opinion of course, it won Grand Prize at the Japan Horror Film Competition. Maybe the judges really wanted to see a feature-length version :) The other two horror shorts from JFF (closet and The Invitation) were more satisfying to me. This also felt more messed up and gross than scary.
The end makes this complete, and therefore more satisfying, in a way that the Grand Prize winner (Best Wishes to All) didn't for me. I prefer this one.
didn't think to look for this until now... there's probably more on youtube but this is what i was able to get search to cough up :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtqsNFUV-Vs
Physical comedy in the vein of Jerry Lewis or Jim Carey with a very straight face which morphs into something which runs Serious Film tropes over a tongue in cheek situation with an underlying serious message about not taking things so seriously. Plus food. It is Japan after all.
I'm careful in what I watch by way of het romance and initially We Made a Beautiful Bouquet wasn't high up my list for this year's JFF Online. A J-drama fan I follow on social media had seen it before and I liked what he wrote about it so I gave it a go. It doesn't do the things I dislike about most het relationship story lines. The FL isn't cutesy or ditsy. Shared enthusiasms are central to the dynamic between the two characters and the framing is also balanced between their POVs. It's one of the most equal relationships I've seen. There's something else I want to compliment it on but that would be a spoiler. All in all, it's an excellent film. Solid writing and acting so natural I managed to forget I was watching a film during some of it. Oh right, this isn't happening. If someone said, "I'm willing to watch one het love story this year" this is one of two I'd suggest.
I'm not sure what to make of this. On the one hand, I feel like there must be a lot I didn't understand. But then…
The whys which eventually emerged from the FL were poignant, but scant and cliched. Did we ever learn much about the ML's motivation other than his being a lonely loser when he was younger? Endings of the anime were moving. All in all, the meaning and significance felt perhaps more 'tell' than 'show'.
I'm not sure what to make of this. On the one hand, I feel like there must be a lot I didn't understand. But then I'm not sure it was actually in there. Didn't get on with the first hour at all. Business pressure + ratings competition = could not care less.
One of the winners in the Japan Horror Film Competition. It and three others are available until 19th June noon JST via the JFF Online link below. I don't watch enough horror to feel comfortable offering an opinion but it did scare me :) Glad I watched it in the afternoon.
They way they developed their idiosyncratic love languages... so when Shiro went on about reducing fat and sugar so they can grow old together <3 <3 <3 And when Kenji hugged him and held him close, the feelings were all the deeper for the wait we had to get there. I love this story so much.
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This also felt more messed up and gross than scary.
It doesn't do the things I dislike about most het relationship story lines. The FL isn't cutesy or ditsy. Shared enthusiasms are central to the dynamic between the two characters and the framing is also balanced between their POVs. It's one of the most equal relationships I've seen. There's something else I want to compliment it on but that would be a spoiler.
All in all, it's an excellent film. Solid writing and acting so natural I managed to forget I was watching a film during some of it. Oh right, this isn't happening. If someone said, "I'm willing to watch one het love story this year" this is one of two I'd suggest.
https://www.thaipbs.or.th/program/InvestigationOfLove/episodes/94764
I don't watch enough horror to feel comfortable offering an opinion but it did scare me :) Glad I watched it in the afternoon.
3 other horror shorts, all award winners too in the Japan Horror Film Competition. More info here https://jff.jpf.go.jp/watch/jffonline2024/lineup_horror/